Siding with big tobacco

Korea’s first tobacco litigation ended up in smokers’ defeat Thursday, running counter to the global trends of punishing the rogue industry.

Wrapping up the 15-year-long damage suit, the Supreme Court ruled ― quite regrettably ― the link between tobacco and “non-specific cancers” was difficult to prove. It also said the evidence showed neither defects in the cigarette products made by KT&G nor any attempts on the part of the defendant to hide information about health risks.

In other words, the justices were saying, “Cigarettes are harmful by nature, and smokers have only themselves to blame by knowing that fact and still consuming it.”

So the nation’s highest court raised the hands of the industry that hurts people’s health but helps to fill the state’s coffers. It is hard to know whether the top court was rebuking the victims’ weak willpower or overestimating humans’ ability not to fall to addictive and fatal habits.

Even more egregious than the ruling was the response from tobacco producers, who warned against other would-be litigants “in respect of the top court’s message.” These producers must not misread the ruling or mislead the public; the decision was a legal judgment on difficulties proving causal relationship, not on the risks on health caused by smoking.

The unfavorable ruling for smokers will likely affect a similar suit being prepared by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), but we hope the state insurer will push ahead with its initial schedule as it pledges. The NHIS is confident it will win in the suit against KT&G, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco and get about 53.7 billion won ($51.4 million) to cover damages, a tiny fraction of the 1.7 trillion won it pays to treat cigarette-related diseases annually.

Other victims and health-related organizations need to file damage suits against tobacco makers regardless of the results, to change, if gradually, the brazen and arrogant business practices of big tobacco.

There can be no denying the harms tobacco can cause. An analysis of big data involving 1.3 million people conducted by Yonsei University last year found smokers are 6.5 times more prone than non-smokers to get laryngeal cancer, and 4.6 times more likely to contract lung cancer. The U.S. federal top court imposed punitive damages of $79.5 million against Philip Morris in 2009, a sign that advanced countries have begun to move against the giant tobacco makers.

The government should also do its part to regulate the rogue industry by raising cigarette prices to prohibitive levels for smokers with ordinary income and obliging producers to put far more explicit warnings and pictures on packages.

Frankly, the outlook is rather grim here unless and until there are new precedents or medical findings that more clearly prove cause-and-effect relationship. If an increasing number of dejected smokers quit their fatal habit, it may be the only silver lining in the top court’s ruling for now.